


Small Twist in Fate

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-12
Updated: 2007-09-12
Packaged: 2017-11-14 07:04:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/512617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce learns an important lesson</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small Twist in Fate

The city felt alien, harsh to every sense he had. That connection, the intuitive knowledge of his domain was shaken, shattered in some ways. He could not put his thumb on it, not until he started seeing the harsh, Gestapo like actions of some of the citizens.

Studying it, staying within the shadows, allowed him the ability to control his reactions as he further realized this was most certainly not just a small teleport error as he had first believed. This place, this city with its clean streets and citizens of iron brutality, was not his Gotham.

His Gotham would never have had citizens afraid to look one another in the eye, or ones who swaggered from place to place with the corrupted abuse of power that came with being an informant to a police state.

Thankfully, there was a public access library he could reach, could utilize without being caught. What he found…his hands were shaking, and his mouth became a grim line.

`~`~`~`~`

Bruce had been missing long enough to warrant bringing all the family into that knowledge. Alfred was calming the questions as quickly as he could, while Dinah played the League go-between about their part in finding him.

All the discussion fell to the side as their missing man was abruptly there, Waverider vanishing away too swiftly to be seen. Gruffly, Bruce informed them all he was fine, that he had merely gone dimensionally astray and that Waverider of that dimension had realized it quickly.

`~`~`~`~`

Dick felt Bruce's hand on his wrist, and turned to see the man in the darker shadows. Bruce stepped forward, letting go of his wrist to reach a hand up, laying it along Dick's cheek.

"Without you…it would have consumed me," he said in a very low tone. "Without you, I became the problem."

Dick blinked, tipping his head into the touch almost despite himself, looking up with worried blue eyes, "Bruce? What... what do you mean?"

"In a world where the youngest Grayson fell to his death, Batman is the terror that makes Gotham safe…and Bruce Wayne encourages the citizens to make his job easier." He drew his hand away slowly. "Batman needed Robin more than we ever knew."


End file.
